Traction belt



1933. D. s. KENNEDY. 1,913,257

TRACT I ON BELT Filed Dec. 3, 1952 Patented June 6, 1933 i r l l l UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE 7 to luns fifijgmm OFLFFGFARISHQ i l l l l H, mnnc'rroiv' BELT p l I s Application e m 1932, serial No. 645,605, and in Great Britain December 24, 1931.

a This inventionrelatesto traction belts of Figs. land 5 are views similar to Fig. 2 the overall non-skid type intended more parof another form of the built-up shoe, showticnlarly forthe tires of road vehiclewheels, ing three plate elements. the shoe members of the belt being connected Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the in series by coupling links or similar link distance pieces or spacing washers. w.

ages. Traction belts of this type are fitted The shoe comprises a pluralityof plate as an. overall attachment aroundtwo wheels elements a of metal and set across the line in tandem, and one such traction belt is deof travel of the tractionibelt and edge-on to scribed in my prior patent specificatlon No. .the ground. These plate elements are made i; 1 i l f interchangeableso that a shoe of any de- The present invention hasfor its princlp l sired number of these plates a can be quickobject to provide a light,\simphfied and Inlyconstructed. Theplate elements of each pe Construction. Of b il -11p ShQgf shoe are connected one to another by assemh e tractiongbelts; A obj c to My bolts "6 andnuts b ,,said bolts passing 15 provide a b il p e f in ha g a through bolt holes (L i the ends of the 65 pl te elem nts or metal blanks, wh ch shoe plates a. Cylindrical distancepieces. c are can be enlarged from its leadlngedge 0 ltS also mounted" on the bolts 5 and theplates trailingedge, by adding further elements a of eachshoe are arranged in parallelism. A further object is to provide a simple means a Adjacent shoes in the traction belt are i arranged W the o O a g p connected together by suitablecoupling re h in thetraction belt or adjusting the linkages. For this purpose, twoextremital length thereof. coupling members as links d, are also My improved shoe is built up of a plurallty mounted on each bolt 6. These two links (Z of plates or strips of metal arranged transh n f L- hape with th i r pe tive versely of the line of travel ofthe chain and .i t r d d Z d be t back t ba k, or

. edge-on to the ground, these strips being conapproximately parallel to one another, Ilected 6 to another y ly s n whilst their outer ends diverge fore and aft, nuts Wi s c Pieces mounted on h that is in opposite directions, as clearly bolts between the plates or strips. Fore and Shown i Fi 2 Th t r d are 30 aft end-coupling members arealso mounted t d t 11 1 1 li li k 6 Shown 011 the s b y bolts, and the 13 of ordinary oval construction so, that each arranged that by the selective positionmg of h -i th b lt can b Connected force d the distance pieces on the assembly bolts, the ft with adjacent shoes. Any suit bl E of the o p g m s be p ber of'linkse to form the coupling linkages 35 apart or 'q 5 togetherr may be provided between adjacent shoes.

ta yfl di t f fi cylindricalvand The plate elements orstrips a are prefthe couphng Cham hnks are bent to erably flat and arch-shaped as shown, with so thatat end th chain i k the outside curve of thear'ch removed so that areiback to back Whllst other ends the outer edge a is straight fora consider- Of The invention is hereafter described with curved POr-tmn l d r formmg P reference to the accompanying drawing, in of trotlghifor the time h stratght w l l I 1 1 p edge a w ll prevent lateral rocking of the i Fig. 1 is a front elevationof one form of Pl or strip a a make 9 eegagemfint 95 the built-up shoe showing two plate ele- Wlth the g Oundclung 1S Wlth t i l vantage such that a line connecting the bolt Fig.2 is a sectional side elevationbn line holes 1 in the endslhmugh dl the 2-;2 of fig. 1; sembly bolts 7) are passed, is nearerthe oen- 50 Fig. 3 is a plan viewiof Fig. 52. ter. of the roadwheelthan the inneredge; a

of the plate or strip a with which the tread of the tire makes contact.

The distance piece 0 which acts as a spac- Fig. 2). By selectively positioning the distance pieces 0 upon the bolts 72 at each side of the built-up shoe, the extremital coupling members d can be spaced apart or be brought closer together.

Adjustment of the length of the coupling linkage is thus effected by changing the position of the distance pieces 0 between the plates or strips a of the shoe, and these plate elements a of each shoe are always maintained at the same distance apart. Thus the distance piece 0 may be between the facing ends of the inturned bends al in which case it separates them so that the outer divergent ends of the links cl project fully beyond the strips a, or the distance piece may be between one plate a and the inturned bend (Z of one link, in which case the outer end of that link does not project so far beyond that plate (the inturned bend of the other link (Z being directly against the inside of the other plate a and projecting fully). The head of bolt Z) and nut hold the plate elements a a, distance piece a and inturned bends d firmly clamped together, and after removing the nut b from each bolt 6, it is a simple matter to re-assemble the parts with the distance pieces 0 in another position upon their assembly bolts 5.

By this means an adjustment in total length of the traction belt can be made equal to the length of the distance piece 0 multiplied by the number of shoes 00 in the belt.

Whilst each built-up shoe need consist of only two transverse plate elements a, I may employ more than two for each shoe, with suitable distance pieces 0 in between, and preferably in the form of short cylinders or spacing washers mounted upon the assembly bolts 6. Inthis way, the shoe can be enlarged when desired, the increase in the number of plate elements a and distance pieces 0 providing a'shoe which is larger from leading edge to trailing edge. Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 4'and 5 where i three plate elements a are employed in each shoe with two distance pieces a on each bolt 6. The maximum take-up obtainable in the coupling chain links e 6 will be seen by comparing these Figures 4 and 5. In Fig. 4, the divergent ends of the links d project fully beyond the leading and trailing edges of the outer plates at, the two distance pieces 0 and the middle plate element a being all interposed between the inturned ends (Z 6Z1, whilst in Fig. 5 the outer divergent ends of the links cl are brought closer together and the inturned ends 0Z are separated only by the thickness of the middle plate element a.

It will thus be understood that shoes of any desired extent from front to rear can be built-up and of these plate elements a, assembly bolts 7), distance pieces 0 and L-shaped links d (P.

What I claim is 1. In a traction belt, a series of built-up shoes, eaclrshoe comprising a plurality of metal plate elements extending transversely of the line of travel of the belt, assembly members holding. said plate elements together, a distance piece mounted on each of said assembly members and intermediately of the plate elements, and coupling linkages between the said shoe and adjacent shoes of the belt, each of said coupling linkages being en- 'gageable with one of said assembly members in more than one position relatively to the distance piece on that assembly member.

2. In a traction belt, a built-up shoe comprising aplurality of metal plate-elements arranged transversely of the line of travel of the belt and edge-on to the ground, assembly members passing through each said plateelement, distance pieces mounted on said assembly members and between said plate- ,4

elements, and coupling linkages extending fore and aft of each shoe, said coupling linkages including extremital links with inturned portions, said inturned portions being also traversed by said assembly members.

3. In a traction belt, a built-up shoe comprising a plurality of interchangeable metal plates extending transversely of the line of travel'of the belt, assembly members passing through each said plate, distance pieces.

mounted on said assembly members and be tween said plates to hold the plates in parallelism,and coupling linkages secured at their ends to said assembly members in between the said plates. I 4. In a traction belt,'a built-up shoe comprising a plurality of plate elements arranged transversely of the line of travel of the belt and edge-on to the ground, assembly members passing through each said plate, spacing washers mounted on said assembly members and between said plate elements, and coupling linkages for connecting the shoe with adjacent shoes in the belt, said coupling linkages including L-shaped links which are mounted on said assembly bolts between the plate elements of the shoe.

5. In a traction belt, a built-up shoe comprising a plurality of parallel metal plates arranged across the belt and edge-on to the jacent shoes in the belt, each said linkage having an L-shaped-extremital link mounted on one of said assembly bolts and in between said parallel metal plates.

6. In a traction belt, a shoe comprising a plurality of ground-engaging metal plates arranged transversely of the line of travel of the belt, assembly bolts securing said plates together, links mounted on said assembly bolts and spacing washers also mounted on said bolts, said links and washers being arranged between the said ground-engaging plates of the shoe and being interohangeable in position upon said assembly bolts.

7 In a traction belt, a shoe comprising a plurality ofground-engaging plate elements arranged across the belt and edge-on to the ground, said plates having a straight outer edge and a curved inner edge, assembly bolts securing said plate elements together, said bolts passingthrough the plate elements adjacent to the ends of the said curve, coupling links traversed by said bolts, said coupling links having portions bent to extend beyond one of the said plate elements and spacing washers also traversed by said bolts, said links and washers being arranged between the said ground-engaging plate-elements and being interchangeable in position on said bolts.

8. A traction belt of the overall type, comprising a series of built-up shoes coupled together, each said shoe including a plurality of parallel metal plates extending transversely of the line of travel of the belt, assembly bolts connectingsaid plates together, a forwardly extending coupling link mounted on each of said bolts between said plates, a rearwardly extending coupling link also mounted on each of said bolts between said plates, the forwardly extending link and the rearwardly extending link on each bolt having portions arranged parallel to one another, and spacing washers also mounted on said assembly bolts between said plates.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

DONALD STUART KENNEDY. 

